Summer School welcomes Milan Roćen, Founder of the Summer School and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro

Milan Roćen was born on 23 November 1950 in Rasova – Žabljak. He is a Montenegrin. He has been married to Stana and has a son Filip, daughter-in-law Jelena, and grandchildren Mila, Milan and Maša.

He graduated from the Faculty of Political Science – Department for Journalism of the University in Belgrade. He speaks Russian. He started his carrier as an associate journalist in Economic Policy in Belgrade (1976 – 1979), after which he held the position of the professional-political officer in the Sector for Information and Propaganda in the Presidency of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Montenegro from 1979 to 1982. For the next six years he was the Chief of Cabinet of the President of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Montenegro. From 1988 to 1992 he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro. After that he was posted as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Moscow from 1992 to 1997 (Chargé d’affaires 1993 – 1994). Upon his return to the country he was appointed Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Montenegro 1997 – 1998, and then Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Montenegro 1998 – 2003 (in this period he was a special envoy of the Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović in ad hoc missions in Paris, London, Bonn, Berlin, Vienna and Moscow; as well as the Head of the Commission for International Cooperation in the Democratic Party of Socialists and a member of the Main Committee of the Democratic Party of Socialists). In 2003 he became the Chief Political Advisor to the Prime Minister of Montenegro but was soon appointed to the position of the Ambassador of Serbia and Montenegro in the Russian Federation which he held from 2003 to 2006 (he was the last Ambassador of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in the Russian Federation). At the same time he was the non-resident Ambassador in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Prior to the referendum for Montenegrin independence in 2006 he was invited back to the country where he served as the Chief Political Advisor to the Prime Minister of Montenegro, the General Manager of the referendum campaign and the coordinator of the Central Headquarters of the Block for the Independent Montenegro. After the independence was restored, in July 2006 he was appointed the Chief Advisor for Political and Military Affairs to the Prime Minister of Montenegro. After the first parliamentary election in the independent Montenegro in November 2006 he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He held this office until July 2012 together with the merged responsibility for the Ministry of European Integration. He was an active participant in the negotiations on the Belgrade Agreement under the auspices of High Representative of the EU Javier Solana, through which the organisation of the Montenegrin independence referendum was agreed.

As the Foreign Minister he led Montenegrin delegation in the political dialogue with the EU, at numerous multilateral meetings in the UN system, OSCE, Council of Europe and NATO, as well as all the regional initiatives. He is the founder of the Montenegrin Diplomatic Summer School which has become a traditional gathering of all the diplomats from the region and a number of countries worldwide. He was the Head of the Montenegrin State Delegation at the Summit of the Leaders of NATO in Bucharest. During his tenure Montenegro was admitted to the Partnership for Peace and got the Membership Action Plan for NATO Accession (MAP).

Furthermore, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed and ratified during this period as well as the visa free regime with the Schengen countries; while Montenegro obtained the candidate status for the EU Membership. He was the Head of the Montenegrin State Delegation at the first Intergovernmental Conference held in Brussels on 29 June 2012 when the negotiations for accession of Montenegro to the EU were opened. Immediately after that, on his own initiative, he withdrew from the duty of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. He was appointed as the Chief Political Adviser to Prime Minister Đukanović in late 2012. He performed this duty until the end of the term in Office of Prime Minister Đukanović’s Cabinet in November 2016. He retired on his own initiative, but continued his political engagement as a member of the Presidency of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, the president of which is Milo Đukanović. After Eight Congress he was elected President of Political Council of Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro.